Seeing The Prophet In Awake By Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti

Seeing the Prophet M Whilst Awake 1

Imam Jalal al-Dm al-Suyuti

Translated by Sidi Abu Hasan
Released by www.marifah.net 1428 H

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah and salutations upon His Slaves whom He has Chosen.

This question has become increasingly [common nowadays] about the vision of the
Prophet H among the People of the State (arbab al-ahwal) whilst awake; a group in
our times - those who have no foothold in religious knowledge have vehemently
denied it and are astonished at this statement; they also claim that it is an
impossibility.

So I have written these few pages and named it 'Lighting Up the Dark: [An
Exposition of] the Possibility of Seeing the Prophets and Angels' (tanwir al-halak fi
imkani ruy'at al-nabiyyi wal malak).

We begin with the sahih (rigorously authenticated) Hadith reported in the matter:
Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud report from Abu Hurayrah 4© that RasulAllah ft said:

"Whosoever saw me in his dream shall see me with his waking eyes (yaqadha)
and the devil cannot impersonate me."

1 Selected excerpts from the 'Lighting Up the Dark: [An Exposition of] the Possibility of
Seeing the Prophets and Angels [With Waking Eyes]'
( http://www.ghrib.net/vb/printthread.php?t=4700 )

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Tabarani has reported a similar narration from Malik ibn "Abdullah from the Hadith
of Abu Bakra; Darami has a similar narration from the Hadith of Abu Qatadah.

The scholars have said: there is difference of opinion concerning the meaning of 'he
shall see me whilst awake'. Some said its meaning is: 'he shall see me on Judgment
day' and this opinion is criticized as being futile because this is a special mention
(talchsfs); otherwise, everyone shall see him on Judgment day, those who have already
seen him and those who haven't.

It is also said that it means: 'those who bore faith in him in his lifetime and did not see
him because they were not present are given glad tidings that they shall see him
before they die.'

A group has said that the meaning is literal and whosoever saw RasulAllah #g in his
dream, he shall surely see him awake; that is, with his waking eyes though some said
that the insight of his heart [is meant] - both of these reported by Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn
al-"Arabi.

Imam Abu Muhammad Ibn Abu Jamra says in his annotations on al-Bukhari:

"This Hadith proves that whosoever saw him #g in his dream shall see him whilst
awake. [The debate is] whether this statement is generic for both during his
lifetime and after his passing away, or whether it is only during his lifetime; also
whether it is for everyone who saw him or whether it is specific for those people of
merit and those who follow his Sunnah assiduously. The word appears to be
generic and anyone who claims it to be specific without it being specified by him
has transgressed (mut'assaf)."

He also said that,

"Some people fell to disbelieving the generic case and said what their intelligence
permits them and said: 'how can one living see the dead, in this world of
beholding?'"

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He replied:

"This objection gives rise to two dangerous possibilities; first is to disbelieve the
[authenticated] saying of the truthful Prophet M who does not speak from his
own desire; and secondly to ignorance of the Power of the All-Powerful."

It has been reported that a scholar visited a wall (saint) and narrated a Hadith; the
saint said that the Hadith was untrue. The scholar asked, "how can you say that?" the
saint replied, "here is the Prophet #g, standing by your head and he says that he has
never said so." And then the scholar saw him too.

In the book, minah al-Ilahiyya flmanaqib al-sadat al-wafayiyya of Ibn Faris he says:

"I heard Sayyidi "AH 4fc say: T was five years old and I was learning Qur'an from a
shaykh named Ya'qub. One day, I went to him and I saw RasulAllah #|, I was
awake, not dreaming, and he was wearing a white cotton shirt and then I saw that
shirt upon me; he asked me to recite the Qur'an and I recited the Surahs al-Duha
and al-Inshirah. He then disappeared and I did not see him until I was 21 years old.
I was starting the morning prayer in Qurafa when I saw the Prophet #f again in
front of me and he hugged me and said to me: "And speak about the favors of your
Lord". I have been granted his speech ever since.'"

Notes:

The First:

Most of the visions of the Prophet #g while awake are seen by the heart and progress is
made until one sees with his waking eyes. We have quoted Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-
"Arabi earlier, but still 'seeing with waking eyes' does not mean the same as seeing

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one another and is understood in common speech. Here, seeing is a transcendental
experience, a supernatural state and an ethereal meeting; none except who is granted
the great fortune knows its true meaning. We have narrated earlier, the story of
Shaykh "Abdullah al-Dallasi where he said: 'I started the prayer and I was taken by a
vision of RasulAllah |g.' Here, he indicates that he was 'taken' by that state.

The Second:

Does the vision (ru'ya) of Mustafa #g refer to seeing him in his body and soul or a
likeness. Among the people of state (arbab al-ahwal) whom I have seen, say that it is
of the latter [a likeness, mithal\ and this is insisted upon by Imam al-Ghazali:

"It does not mean that he sees his body; rather, it is a likeness, a form which
incorporates his likeness ....

...such a form (alati) is sometimes real and sometimes imaginary; and the essence
(al-nafs) is not an imaginary likeness. So that which one sees is not the soul of
Mustafa , nor his person; rather, it is his likeness in reality.

....it is similar to the vision of Allah Ta'ala in a dream; because Allah Ta'ala is
exalted and free from having a form and shape. Yet, a slave realises [that he has
seen his Lord] by recognition of examples that he can discern from His Light etc.,
such an example, a likeness is true in his case which helps his recognition such that
a man says: 'i have seen Allah Ta'ala in my dream'; he doesn't mean he has seen
the dhatox the Person of Allah Ta'ala. Which is quite unlike seeing others [among
the creation]."

Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi said:

"The vision of the Prophet M in the manner matching his description which is well-
known is grasping the reality; and in a manner that does not match his known
description is a grasping his likeness."

This is an extremely beautiful explanation. Yet, this does not negate that one can see
his honored person , in his body and soul because he is alive, just like all other
prophets, and their souls were returned to their bodies after they experienced a
moment of [promised] death, they are permitted to go out of their graves and to

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dispense matters both high and low; Imam Bayhaqi has written a separate monograph
on the lives of prophets after their deaths.

The Fourth:

One can object that, 'in this case, seeing him necessitates one to be a Sahabi?'

We answer: It does necessitate companionship. Because, if we suppose the vision to
be an ethereal one (al-mithal), it is obvious that suhba (companionship) is possible
only if one sees him with his blessed body and soul.

And if we suppose that one sees his blessed person (dhaf) with his body and soul, the
condition for being a companion or Sahabi is that RasulAllah it should be seen
whilst he was in this world, and now he has passed on to another world. Therefore,
such a vision does not necessitate companionship because there is evidence from
Hadith that the entire Ummah of RasulAllah it was presented to him; he saw them
and they saw him, yet it does not make all the Ummah as Sahabi because those
followers were in a different world at that time.